WELLS CHANDLER:
HOs in This House
JANUARY 9 - FEBRUARY 20, 2022
Soloway is pleased to present Wells Chandler’s extended holiday special HOs in this House.
The four stages of Santa:
You believe in Santa.
You don’t believe in Santa.
You are Santa.
You look like Santa.*
My favorite memory of Santa takes place in November at a Wendy’s in Virginia Beach, VA. My father drove all the way out to Norfolk to pick me up at school with my little sister Patsy who was five at the time. It was dark out and he needed to feed us dinner fast, so he took us to Wendy’s. A large man in a red suit with a white beard was in the dining area polishing off a bacon cheddar cheese burger and baked potato drowning in velveeta and broccoli. When he finished his meal, he snapped his candy cane suspenders on his stained undershirt and slung his red fur trimmed coat over his shoulder. He must have noticed my fbi stare and Patsy’s uncontainable excitement as she squirmed in her seat and frequently whipped around to catch a glimpse of you know who. As he got up to bus his trash, he stopped by our table, winked at Patsy and handed her a red business card that said: Santa: North Pole. Like a frenzied maenad, Patsy got up and sniffed the seat where the man was sitting. She returned to the table proudly declaring, “Now I will always remember the true smell of Christmas!”
If Carl Jung misgendered me, she would probably tell me that my animus was Santa. Santanimus lives inside of me. Santa is my destiny. Challenging normative standards of decency and taste through craft and excess, HOs in This House, is a queer fever dream that celebrates the best of what Christmas has to offer without the psychosis of family. Start the new year right! One month behind! Who’s really counting anyway? Embroidered poor-traits of employee of the month mall Santas gather for Santa therapy. Charred cookies are strange attractors at the end of time. Trompe l'oeil casts of candies serve toppings so convincingly that visitors will ponder ‘how are those preserved?’ because they can’t read a materials list. Amanita muscaria junkie reindeers fly and slouch in a psychedelic stupor. Peppermint spiral t-shirts are the perfect breath-mint your body needs to start the new year fresh.
Wear your best soiled ugly holiday sweater and slap on a mask with a white beard glued to the face. Join us at Soloway to celebrate Santa and the degenerate mind of an artist who needed to make yet another Santa themed show. Oh there he ho again!
*Dad joke origin unknown
Text by Wells Chandler
Wells Chandler
Wells Chandler (he/him) is a Bronx based artist who explores ecology, community, gender and queer iconography through the mediums of crochet, embroidery, drawing and cake. He received his MFA from Yale University in 2011 where he was awarded the Ralph Mayer Prize for proficiency in materials and techniques. From 2016-17 he was a recipient of the Sharpe Walentas Studio Program. Chandler is a 2015 Queer Art Mentorship fellow paired with the inimitable Angela Dufresne. Recent solo exhibitions include Andrew Rafacz (Chicago, IL), Diablo Rosso (Panama City, Panama), Galerie Eric Mouchet (Paris, France), MOCA Tucson (Tucson, AZ), Mrs. (Maspeth, NY), and Union Gallery (London, England) . Recent group exhibitions include Leslie Lohman Museum of Art (NY), Museo Tamayo (Mexico City, Mexico), The Pensacola Museum of Art (FL), Choi and Lager (Cologne, Germany), and Marvin Gardens (Queens, NY). His work has been reviewed by Roxane Gay, Art Forum, The New York Times, Hyperallergic, The Huffington Post, TimeOut, Modern Painters, Maake Magazine, Two Coats of Paint and AEQAI. Chandler is a Visiting Assistant Professor at SUNY Purchase.
